


Rocks

by murderspice



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Fluff, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2015-09-02
Packaged: 2018-04-18 15:09:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4710431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murderspice/pseuds/murderspice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Where do we go from here?<br/>Where do we go from here?<br/>I threw some rocks up at your window...<br/>I threw some rocks right through your window..." </p><p>Jane is the heiress of a cruel and ruthless empire, and Dirk was raised into the rebellion against them.<br/>One night, Jane wakes up to the sound of rocks hitting her window.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rocks

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everybody! It's been a while since I've published something, and I decided that needed to change.  
> This was originally going to be a one shot, but it got wayy too long for that, haha! Expect the second and final chapter within the next couple of months. Perhaps sooner if I can square away enough time to write ^u^  
> Ms. Paint and Spades won't show up until the next chapter, but I am putting them in the tags regardless.  
> Enjoy! 
> 
> This fic is inspired by the song "Rocks" by Imagine Dragons. I recommend going and giving it a lil listen c:

Jane had woken up to rocks hitting her window.

She shrugged it off at first, assuming that it was a wild animal or something of the sort. It wasn’t uncommon, since the palace was on the outskirts of the empire. Her Imperious Condescension wasn’t all that thrilled with the idea of the entire empire being able to surround her completely. Not with the ever-growing rebellion becoming more of a problem every day. She was supposed to figure that out someday. Even if the Empress herself didn’t die. The Condescension’s 76,923rd wriggling day was tomorrow (counted in sweeps, of course). She was just going to dump it all on Jane’s tiny human lap once she had the utmost confidence that she would resume the expansion of the empire.

The noise repeated. A methodic _thunk_ , with the same timbre as the first. Warning sirens sounded in Jane’s head.

Jane was given a protocol for moments like this. If something seemed suspicious, she had to use her phone to send the alarm code to her security a couple doors down the hall. They stayed awake 24/7, making it the occupation with the highest death toll due to the notorious lack of rest permitted. Jane looked for her phone, only to remember that the phone that was sitting on her desk, dead from a late night of reading.

Well, gosh fucking darn it. Plan B, then.

The first thing she finds off her desk is in her hand a moment later as she makes her way to the window, eyeing the trees outside as they swayed in the warm night breeze. When she opened the window, she nearly missed another rock as it whizzed past her head.

“Alright, who are you and why are you bombarding my windows with rocks?” she called into the night, sticking her head out and waving her weapon around at the shrubs surrounding her side of the house. One of them moved slightly.  “Show yourself!” she yelled.

A young man backed up from where he was crouching, his hands up in surrender and a rock still in his grip. “Glad to finally get your attention, your highness.”

Jane hesitated for a moment. “Who are you?”

“Hopefully not somebody that you plan on stabbing with that letter opener.”

He was dressed in the garb of what Jane could only describe as that of an assassin or a theif. Despite that, he wasn’t all that difficult to spot in the dark with his shockingly bright blonde hair and an eclectic choice of eyewear. His pointed shades caught the light that the moon provided, giving him a rather mysterious look in the shade.

“As much as I enjoy sitting here and looking at how beautifully poised you are to throw that projectile between my eyes, there really isn’t any time for that now,” he said, his hands in his pockets. You picked up a hint of a southern dialect in his voice. “I have a proposition for you.”

She didn’t even have the slightest clue as to why she gave him the time, but something told her that he was up to something that would neither benefit her empress nor the rebellion at hand. Leaning gingerly out of the doorway, she crossed her arms. “And what exactly would that be, Mister…?”

“Strider will do fine.”

“Strider. What are you suggesting?”

“Come away with me.”

Well, that certainly escalated quickly. “Should I be flattered or terrified? For all I know, you could kill m-”

“Let me finish, princess. It’s no secret to rebellion intelligence that you aren’t all that thrilled about your predecessor’s choices. Wait,” he paused, holding his hands up again when Jane’s grip on her letter opener tightened. “I’m not here to convert you to the rebellion or any of that. In fact, I think the rebellion is going about it the wrong way. They aren’t giving anyone who was once loyal to this empire even a fraction of a chance of redemption, which is, pardon my french, really fucking stupid. I hate this war as much as you do. That’s why I’m here. Mostly.” He stopped, making eye contact with her for the first time since he began to speak. “So are you down?”

This Strider fellow certainly had some nerve. _Mostly_. An alterior motive wasn’t something that sounded very pleasant or polite. She straightened her back out and looked him down, much like the Condescension herself. “I most certainly am not down!”

Strider shrugged. “Okay.”

Jane had turned around to retreat to her room, but the response caught her off guard. “...Wait, what?”

“I said okay,” he repeated, lifting an eyebrow. “Would you rather I stay and bother you until you can sic the security on me?”

Well, Jane certainly wasn’t expecting that. Maybe he really wasn’t there to trick her. Or maybe he was trying to use some sort of reverse psychology on her. Regardless, disappearing in the middle of the night would almost indefinitely increase the delay of her coronation. So would the involvement of the royal guard.  “I think...it would be best if they didn’t get involved.”

His nod was barely visible from her vantage point. “I think I can live with that decree, your highness.” He bowed quickly and unceremoniously before moving to leave.

“Wait,” Jane stopped him, not entirely sure why. She should just let him go, the reasonable part of her chastised. But this was just such an odd encounter, she needed an explanation to calm her curiosity. The man stopped in his tracks, turning around once more.

“Yes, miss Crocker?”

“Why come all this way if you’re just going to accept no as an answer?”

He shrugged. “I came here knowing there was a fifty-fifty probability. If you’re want to change your mind and turn me in, I’ll chill here ‘til they take me away.”

She should’ve taken him up on the offer. But she couldn’t. He wasn’t harming anyone, so why bother? Shaking her head forcefully, she looked out into the forest and back at him again. “No, my decision still stands. I didn’t see anything. I’ve never seen you in my life.”

He nodded again, a smirk on his face. “Thanks, princess.”

Jane couldn’t help herself from smiling softly back. “Don’t mention it.”

And with that, he disappeared into the shadows once more.

****

-

****

The mysterious man wasn’t the only thing Jane wracked her brains at that week. War was waging outside of the palace walls, and it seemed as if Jane was the only one who heard about it. The riots were getting out of hand. As an heiress, she could only suggest actions to the Empress. Sadly, they fell on deaf ears most of the time. _Auntie Condy was occupied with other things_ , apparently. So long as she had someone to lord over, she was fine with a few protesters dying. According to her, they deserved it for their insubordination. As if every single occupant of the kingdom was responsible. It made Jane question why she was even still here under the rule of such a crazy woman. And then she remembered that she was the only hope of fixing it.

Her Imperious Condescension had announced the marriage of her heiress this week. Jane was informed with the rest of the citizens that she was to marry the heir of the Makara family. Gamzee, Condy had whispered in her ear. At the hatching day celebration of the Empress, they were forced to sit together, and he was obviously under the influence of something raunchy. It took all of her willpower not to retch at the smell of it. It was very much like the sopor slime that trolls slept in, but also carried a scent that could only be described as _old corpse_. Gamzee himself wasn’t very talkative, but fairly polite, mostly to her. He was sure to make it clear that they were betrothed, keeping a hand on hers through the entire dinner.

His smile was very unsettling.

The purpose of this marriage was to provide an heir for after Jane’s reign. However, as both Jane and the Empress knew, human-troll reproduction was impossible. So why even bother? Perhaps because of his blood status, and because trolls outlive humans. He could easily become king once she died and take on a new queen to produce an heir.

For some reason, the thought made Jane sick. So sick that she managed to excuse herself for the rest of the night without so much as a breath of disapproval.

When she returned to her room, she didn’t even bother changing clothes right away. She just locked the door and slid down to the floor, her head falling to rest on her knees. Her thoughts drifted from the sickening arrangement to the mysterious man to how itchy her dress was, and back again.

 

-

 

She didn’t know that she had fallen asleep there until she woke up to the sound rocks hitting her window again.

She jumped up to her feet. Another rock tapped against the glass, just like before. Jane grabbed the letter opener again. She opened the window just as she had before.

“You must be really partial to that thing,” Strider remarked carefully. She relaxed slightly at the sight of the familiar face. “This isn’t a second attempt at stealing you, if that’s what you were thinking.”

“To be perfectly honest, I just woke up, so I wasn’t thinking much at all,” Jane replied softly. “But if given the time to, I probably would have wondered what you were doing here.”

“I just felt like talking. Conversations are good.”

“...With me?”

“Why not?” he asked. “You’re interesting.”

Jane snorted. “Me? Interesting? A slice of bread could live a life more interesting than mine.”

“Could,” the man countered, kicking something off of the ground. A hoverboard, Jane noted. “But isn’t, seeing as it’s inanimate and couldn’t even if it had the potential to.”

Jane couldn’t even pretend to follow the ridiculous line of thought anymore. “So...you just want to talk? Wouldn’t it be kind of suspicious if I spent the whole night yelling out my window?”

“Well, that’s why I brought this,” he motioned to his hoverboard. “Made it myself. It’s not like the ones they sell in warehouses now. It’s the original.”

“Where are we going on it?”

“I figured the roof would have minimum security. Would I be correct in my assumptions?”

“...Yes.”

“Splendid,” he stood on his hovercraft, powering it up before floating to Jane’s level. He stretched his hand out when he was right in front of her. “If you wanna search me for weapons, you can do that.”

If he stabbed her on the roof, it would be entirely Jane’s fault for trusting him so quickly. She took his hand and carefully stepped onto the hoverboard. He wrapped his waist around her for balance before flying to the roof.

****

-

****

“Favorite color.”

“Orange. Favorite drink?”

“Water!”

“That’s so unfortunate.”

Jane huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “What’s wrong with liking water?”

Dirk, as he introduced himself twenty minutes ago, raised an eyebrow. “The fact that it is the most dull and lame beverage in the history of beverages.”

“Well, that’s your opinion. I find water to be quite refreshing.”

He laughed. Jane huffed again. “What?”

“You’re stubborn, aren’t you?” He said, his chuckles dying down. “I can tell. I have a friend back at base who says the exact same thing when people disagree with him.”

Jane wanted to frown, but she couldn’t. She had spent most of her life being told these were the enemies. Hearing that even one of them bore resemblance to her and hearing that they got along with one another made them so much more genuine. She hadn’t seen or talked to a human or a truly kind troll in ages. “What’s his name?” she inquired softly.

He looked at her, probably to assure that she wasn’t trying to pry information out of him for the Empress. “John. Why?”

Jane smiled softly and shrugged. “Friendship isn’t something I’m totally accustomed to here. The only people I could even consider friends have their own tighter-knit circles. I’m just in a circle with myself.”

Dirk nodded in understanding. “I know that feeling a bit too well. I was a loner ‘til the rebellion became a thing. Even then, I still feel like I annoy everyone I talk to. Except maybe you,” he smirked. “I don’t think you’ve had enough exposure yet, but it’ll happen. I irritate the shit out of everyone. Including myself.”

It was Jane’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Yourself?”

He took off his shades, setting them in his lap. “Yep.” His eyes were trained on the glasses.

“I like your eyes.”

He looked up at her, studying her face. After a while, he gave a small smirk. “Yours aren’t too bad, either. Favorite animal?”

Jane grinned back. “I’m pretty fond of rabbits. You?”

“Horses. They’re so god damn majestic.”

She couldn’t help herself from giggling at the statement. Soon enough, his soft chuckles harmonized with hers.

****

-

****

When Jane woke up, she was in her own bed. There was no Dirk Strider in sight. The glass door to her balcony was closed, morning light filtering through it as it did every day. Rubbing her eyes, Jane picked up her phone, scrolling through the messages that explained her schedule for the day. The engagement was real life. She had a dress fitting for that today. The deaths of 20 villagers on the western coasts due to incorrect intell on the location of rebellion headquarters were very real. Oh dear. She made sure to make time to send her condolences to the remaining family members. Other than that, she had no idea what else was real. Dirk might’ve been a dream. Whether only the second time was a dream, or both times were, Jane wasn’t ready to figure out.

Jane hadn’t realized that she was still wearing her glasses until she read the spines of her books across the room. Alright. Either she fell asleep with them on, or somebody moved her to her bed without taking them off. Even if it was the second, there was a chance that it was one of the servants, and not Dirk.

The day was spent going back and forth between focusing on the task at hand and trying to figure out if she was hallucinating at night or not.

“Jane? Wwe need you to focus, here.”

She knew it was a problem if Eridan was telling her to focus, too.

“Yeah, doll, just settle dovwn,” the other Ampora soothed, reaching to hold your shoulders before he was slapped away.

“Cronus, you are the lowwest piece of scum in this universe.”

“Vwhat? Just because she’s gonna be quadrant locked in red doesn’t mean the others are reservwed too…”

“Cut that out, wwe’vve knowwn her since she wwas a human wwiggler!”

It was difficult to focus when the Amporas spent most of their time bickering instead of engaging her in conversation. They both acted as gatherers of intel, but were terrible at their job when they were shoved into the same room (which was exactly what happened when they were to meet with Jane).  Jane stared blankly at the map of the land surrounding the main empire city. Notes and scribbles indicated possible rebel base locations. She didn’t pay too much mind to them. She thought about Dirk, and John, and how these people were just exactly that, people. They weren’t the cold death and riot machines that the empire made them out to be. Or...maybe they were, and she was just having the weirdest dreams of her life.

The sounds of even more slapping and wavy consonants took Jane out of her thoughts and back to the aggressive quarrel of the Ampora brothers. She groaned.

“Boys, please. I’m just tired, okay? I didn’t get very fitful sleep. Stop hitting each other, for pete’s sake,” she glared at the brothers before rubbing her temples, feeling a migraine coming on.. “Be a little more enthralling, maybe? I could use some stimulating conversation, please.”

Cronus looked like he was restrained himself from making a crude joke. He was getting better. Jane appreciated that. Eridan started going off about the evidence surrounding all the potential locations, while Cronus added his knowledge of the terrain, and what he had seen on his most recent reconnaissance missions. He also told Jane and Eridan about how Gamzee had found a rebel on the outskirts of town and had bludgeoned him to death, as if the event was hot gossip. Well, maybe it was to Eridan.

“Servves him right,” the younger troll sneered. Cronus nodded in agreement, baring his sharp teeth in a snide grin. “Bein’ a bloody mindless moron and all.”

For Jane, it was a nightmare. She knew the reputation of his blood caste, but really. If he was so quick to murder a random rebel, what would happen if they ever got into an argument?

Another part of her scream that she was terrified that he had killed Dirk. If he was dead, she couldn’t do anything about it.

“Miss Jane!” a voice called, stopping the whispers of the Amporas. “Your majesty, there’s a package for you.”

She raised an eyebrow at the courrier. The package in the woman’s hands was a moderate size, and didn’t look very heavy. Poisons and explosives were usually packaged differently, and rarely ever made it past the gates. “I’ll take it. Thank you, ma’am, for delivering,” she replied with a courteous smile. The woman nodded politely and set the package in the doorway before taking her leave. The Amporas looked at Jane, different looks of confusion on their faces. She waved them off. “I’ll take it to my quarters and meet you two later. If you figure anything else out, let me know.”

****

-

****

The box had been left in shreds on her bed after she had all but obliterated it with various sharp objects. It was quite extremely secured, and took roughly half an hour for Jane to open with no formal tools other than her letter opener. What was inside of it, however, was most definitely worth it.

A rabbit. Not a real rabbit, thank the gods, because there were no holes poked in the parcel. The rabbit was mechanical, bearing a small hat insigna on its chest and an uncannily familiar pair of shades perched on its smooth face. With the rabbit was a note, written in a pointed scrawl with a dying pen.

 

_You said you were fond of rabbits, and that you were lonely. I figured I’d give you this little guy. I haven’t given him (or her, or them, whichever you see fit) a name yet, so be sure to tell him/her/them what his/her/their name is when you come up with one._

_Talk to you soon (hopefully),_

_Timaeus._

 

Timaeus? Jane stifled a snort. The rabbit, which was sitting upright in front of Jane, tilted its head at her noise, making her jump.

“Well, hello, cutie. You startled me,” Jane murmered, hoping that nobody walking past her room could hear her. The rabbit didn’t respond, seemingly looking her over (she couldn’t tell if if had eyes under those shades). “Like what you see?” she joked experimentally, and the rabbit nodded. She wasn’t sure if the nod was serious or sarcastic, as the little machine had no mouth. Jane pursed her lips.

The rabbit must have taken that as a sign of distress, because it sprung up and jumped for the remains of the box, where a miniature katana blade had escaped Jane’s notice. Jane backed away, and the rabbit turned its back to her, searching for what was making her retreat. After a few moments, it clicked in Jane’s head that the robot was trying to protect her.

Dirk hadn’t just sent her a friend, he had sent her a tiny bodyguard.

Jane smiled at the cybernetic critter. It immediately lowered its weapon after a final quick search of the room, and moved its way into Jane’s lap when she sat on the floor. “Well, you’re an interesting gift, that’s for sure,” she hummed, scratching the rabbit behind the ears. She wasn’t sure if the rabbit could feel anything, but it responded positively, so she continued her minstrations as she thought about a proper name.

****

-

****

“Little Sebastian?”

“No,” Jane said. “ _Lil_ Sebastian. _Lil_. It’s an important part of the name!”

Dirk shook his head. “Amazing,” he muttered, a smirk on his face. Jane frowned.

“Is that how you always smile?”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

“The little smirk thing. I’ve seen you smile before, but not as much as that little dang smirk,” she expressed. “Do you think your real smile is unattractive or…?”

“What if that was my real smile?” He crossed his arms and huffed, much like she had the first night they met. “I feel like I should be offended.”

“Something tells me it isn’t.”

“Well,” he sighed. “You aren’t wrong. But it is a lot easier.”

Jane raised her eyebrow now, watching his oddly blank face. “And what do you mean by that?”

“I’ve seen shit, Jane. My bro died right in front of me,” he said, trying to sound casual. “He’s the reason I’m in this god damn rebellion. He was one of the founders. My little bro and I were almost instantly taken in after our big bro was skewered like it was going out of style. And I should have a grudge for that, I really should, but…” he carded a hand through his hair. “I’m just tired. And pissed. Mostly tired, though. It’s easier to fake happiness than feel it, you know?”

“Yes,” Jane answered almost instantly. She definitely knew. Her father was out there somewhere, fully aware that his daughter was going to rule him someday. And she was forbidden from ever speaking to him. She remembers life with him before she was taken as an heiress. It was much kinder. She rested her hand on top of his. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was an honest question, it needed an honest answer.”

“I just wish there was something I could do.”

He found her pinky and stroked it with his thumb. It was an awkward gesture and made Jane hold back a snort. In turn, his smirk softened into something a little more authentic. “You’re doing everything you could just by humoring me here.”

****

-

****

“The Makaras are one of the longest lines of indigo bloods still living,” the Empress said simply. “The arrangement was convenient. They have a powerful son, I have an heiress.”

Jane knew she shouldn’t get upset, since trolls were much less sensitive about self worth than humans were. Yet she truly couldn’t help it. She voiced this to the Condescension, who laughed in her face.

“Oh, come on, Jane! You know I’m just pulling your fishing line. You are important to this kingdom. Even if you won’t live for ages and ages like I have.”

Jane kept her chin high. “But perhaps this isn’t the best of partnerships?”

The Condescension looked at her, yellow eyes seeming to glow. Jane felt the troll searching her thoughts, which she did from time to time as she pleased. Jane could block things (the condescension actually taught her how), but she feared the consequences of using them against her superior. Said troll shrugged. “Aight, I’ll bite. Why not?”

“For starters, we can’t produce an heir.”

“Splash some troll chick’s baby batter in a bucket with his and claim it as your own,” She waved off.

“He’s unstable…”

“As are all indigo bloods. Be careful who you say that to, guppy.”

“Well, I don’t love him!”

It sounded much less petulant in her head. But it was the truth. She barely knew this Gamzee, and the aura of him made Jane go rigid. Being forced to marry a complete stranger wasn’t exactly preferable. Well, that complete stranger. There was one that came to mind that she wouldn’t hate spending more time with. She caught the thought in its tracks and shoved it to the back of her mind, hoping that the Condescension missed that one. Much to her relief (and chagrin), the Empress laughed even harder than she had earlier.

“Guppy, you should hear yourself! If we all wanted to quadrant-lock our soulmates, nobody would ever get ‘locked,” she stirred the glass on her desk with her finger absentmindedly. “This is politics. Not poetry. So jump in, test the waters, and enjoy the swim before you die. Got it?” Jane tried to interject, but found herself speechless. The Condescension grinned. “Good. You are dismissed. And Jane?”

“Yes, your majesty?”

The air around the room cooled significantly. Jane felt the prodding of mind control, but she resisted gently, hiding all thoughts of the rebellion and one particular member. “We are done discussing this matter. Forever.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

****

-

****

After almost a month of late night talks, Jane finally came to terms with the fact that Dirk was real. However, nearly a month without the proper amount of sleep was taking its toll. Jane had to work hard to convince her peers that she was alright, despite the dark bags under her eyes and her surprise naps throughout the day. The only person that tried to do something about it was Dirk.  

“Shit, Crocker. You look like death warmed over,” he remarked one day when Jane answered his knocks on her window.

“I’m so flattered,” she responded dryly, taking his hand. As they ascended to the roof, Dirk watched her, careful not to let her fall off due to exhaustion. He even led her off of the hoverboard this time, instead of letting her hop down herself.

“I’m serious though, Jane. Are you getting sleep at all?” She tried to nod, but it made her head hurt if she moved too fast. Instead, she sighed, answering with a dejected ‘noooo’. Dirk wrapped an arm around her shoulder and lead her to lean on him. She did so gratefully. “When do you have to be awake in the morning?”

“It depends on the day,” she drawled, already finding herself lulled by the warmth of Dirk’s body. “Usually around 7:00, if I have to look nice that day. Which is almost every day. Last tuesday, I was able to sleep until 9:00 without anybody noticing.”

If she could’ve seen behind his shades, she would have laughed at how comically wide Dirk’s eyes had gotten. “Holy shit, girl. That’s not healthy. Why aren’t you-” he cut himself off with a noise of realization. “I’m a monster. Oh my god. I’m so sorry, Jane.”

“Please don’t,” she pouted, snuggling into his side. He moved to get up, possibly to leave.

“I should let you sleep-”

A hand shot out and grabbed his wrist before he could go too far. When he turned back, Jane’s eyes were on him with the most unmistakable trace of fear in them.

“Don’t go. Please.”

She couldn’t even remember what they had talked about that night. All she recalled was him promising to come by every other day, so that she could at least get some sleep. The rest faded to black after a while.

****

-

****

_Happy Birthday, Miss Jane._

_It isn’t much, but I figured it would be a good addition to your collection. I asked a friend of mine what a girl who enjoyed detective movies would like. He gave me these._

_So yeah, they’re hand-me-downs, but it’s the thought that counts. Right?_

_I’ll see you tonight, maybe with some cake if I can convince the people in our rations department to give me the ingredients. And even then, I might fuck up the recipe. So it’ll be a surprise for both of us._

_A metric butt ton of love,_

Timaeus.

****

Jane beamed at the three mystery novels and poster depicting the charismatic protagonist of the series. They had been well loved by their previous owner (perhaps a bit _too_ literally, as the poster had a spot that looked as though it had been kissed many times), which made them even more charming. When she opened the book, there were notes scratched into the margins in a font other than Dirk’s. This one was shorter, and not as slanted, but still held a very rushed quality to it. Whoever it was used ridiculous sayings that made Jane giggle.

“Blistering dickens? That one is especially foolish, don’t you think, Seb?”

The robot rabbit gave a thumbs up. Jane laughed even harder.  

****

-

****

Running. No, swimming. She was swimming. Wait, no. She was running. She felt like she was drowning, but she was definitely above ground. The trident in her hand was weightless, but her body felt like it was lead. The gunfire was muffled, yet her heartbeat was so loud it hurt her head. She felt a bullet whiz past the back of her neck. She didn’t pay much mind to it. The Condescension was ahead of her, carving a path through the rebels. Jane followed, passing the carnage without seeing faces. Suddenly, a shiver went down her spine.

Somebody was following her. They were armed. She didn’t question how she knew, she just ensured that her follower had the benefit of the doubt.

The path wasn’t very long, now. She was right on the Condescension’s heels. When she got there, the Empress barked some sort of praise before continuing to fight. Jane started to assist her in clearing a path, using her own trident to push away the enemies as they closed in. One tried to get them from the side, but Jane stopped them quickly, earning another bubble of approval from the troll beside her.

Now they were on a cliff. The war raged on in front of them, but Jane could still feel the follower closing in on her. The Empress put a hand on her shoulder, and she heard the command echo in her head before it was even spoken out loud.

“ **Kill him.** ”

Jane whipped around too quickly for her attacker to react. With one smooth movement, her trident was in Dirk’s stomach.

****

-

****

“Jane! Vwake up!”

Her head snapped up instantly. Cronus was inches from her face, concern in his eyes. Was that Eridan behind him? Jane’s vision was blurry. She blinked a few times, only to find tears running down her face.

“Christ, you okay doll? ‘Started vwhimperin’ in your sleep,” he said softly, propping her up into her seat. “Eridan and I can handle this on our ovwn, you knovw.”

“I’m fine,” she tried to say sternly, but it wavered much more than she wanted it to. Eridan snorted.

“Wwe knoww you’re not fine wwhen you sound like me,” he snarked. “Go to bed, wwe wwon’t sell you out.”

“No, it’s okay,” she pushed herself up. She wouldn’t get much sleep after that hellish dream, anyway. “Let me splash some cold water on my face, debrief me, and then we’ll all take it to her.”

****

-

****

She witnessed the slaughter of a lowblood rebel that morning, not even 10 minutes after her nightmare. The Grand Highblood had been so excited, he hadn’t even moved from in front of the Condescension’s throne before swinging his club at the small woman. She flew into the wall, crumpling into a mangled pile. The blood began to seep into the cracks between tiles when Jane was close enough to see she was a rustblood.

“Makara, for Gog’s sake, I told you to kill her, not turn her into fish chum,” the Empress scolded, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “Get that shit outta my face.”

The Grand Highblood, despite having just been chastised, laughed hysterically. Once the body was gone and a servant was sent to mop the floor, the Empress finally turned to Jane. The Amporas stood behind Jane, saying nothing.

“Great news, guppy,” she started, baring her sharp teeth in a dangerous grin. “We found a base.”

Her stomach dropped. She hoped to whatever gods were up there, troll or otherwise, that she didn’t give herself away. “That’s excellent. Where were they? Eridan has been wracking his brains over them for weeks…”

Mercifully, the Condescension didn’t show any signs of seeing through Jane’s facade.

“Underground,” she started. “They’ve quite literally been under our gills the entire time! Only an hour away from the external perimeters.”

“Howw did you find them, you’re Majesty?” Eridan piped up. Cronus elbowed him in the ribs.

The grin on the Empress’s lips curled wickedly. “The youngest Makara was out early this morning and followed the smoke tracks of a hoverboard. After he tread for a mile or two, he found light footprints. And then a door with grass grown over the top! How fishy!”

Jane laughed, trying not to look as terrified as she felt. “Very fishy indeed.”

****

-

****

“So?”

Jane couldn’t believe he was even suggesting this. “So...what?” she tried tentatively.

“Do you want to run away?”

“Of course I do! I just can’t,” she responded, a lump rising in her throat. She looked at him, already knowing his reaction. As expected, his face was completely blank of emotion. He just watched her, like he always did when he was calculating. He was going to leave her forever, she was sure of it. Jane looked down again to the grass and wild flowers below them. She wiggled her bare toes to give herself a point of focus. Breathe in through your mouth, and out through your nose, she thought to herself. Rejection isn’t that bad if you prepare for it-

He put his hand in hers and twined their fingers together. “Favorite mineral?”

Jane wasn’t sure why, but she felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. She laughed, trying to keep the tears at bay. Dirk simply answered the question instead, then began to tell the story of when he first saw topaz and how he instantly fell in love with its existence. The rest of the night was peaceful.

****

-

****

He didn’t show up the next night. Jane couldn’t even pretend that she slept well.

****

-

****

The night after that, he was late. Jane was already there waiting for him when he soared in on his hoverboard.

“I was afraid you wouldn’t show up again,” she joked lighty. He smiled, a bit wider than usual. Jane knew instantly that something was off, and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing at all. What’s wrong with you?” He paused for a moment, assessing his words. “Pretend I didn’t say that last part.”

“You’re a terrible liar,” she deadpanned.

His smile was sad. “Only around you, Crock-pot.” His shoulders sagged. He looked tired. Even more tired than Jane. She took his arm and pulled him onto the balcony so he didn’t have to work to balance himself in the air. For a while, he was silent. Then, after a deep breath, he blurted,  “If I don’t return to base with a kidnapped princess, they’re going to exile me.”

Jane couldn’t even form words, she just stood there, gaping at him like a fish. Dirk shrugged, pulling off his shades to rub at his eyes. “I mean, it could be worse. My little bro was able to convince them not to kill me.”

Jane looked into his eyes. Sadness, but not even a trace of regret. “You’re not going to take me there?”

“Fuck no.”

“But you should.”

After so many months, it was finally his time to be taken aback. He shook his head fiercely. “Jane-”

“Dirk,” she pleaded, watching her voice break his heart. “Your entire family is there. And friends! You met me months ago, I’m definitely not worth the lot of them. I refuse to let you make enemies of everyone you’ve ever known. You don’t deserve that.”

“Just as much as you don’t deserve it,” he rebutted. “That’s exactly what they wanna do to you, Jane. Turn you into their own weapon and then throw you back into the kingdom to betray everyone you know. And if you don’t do it at your own will, you’ll do it at theirs.”

As unpleasant as that sounded, Jane stood her ground. “I can handle a little torture. I’ll be killed if I don’t fight when they storm your base, anyway.”

His eyes darkened. “She found our base.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

He didn’t respond. His face showed more emotion than Jane had ever seen in even one night. Of all the things to be emotional about, and it was silly old her. Mere months ago, he was an odd stranger, a supposed dream. It was amazing how different life was nowadays.

When he finally came to a decision, his face went stoic. Locking his eyes with hers, he pulled his phone out.

He dialed a number into it with a shaky hand. The other line picked up after a few seconds, static taking over the first few words. Jane heard something along the lines of ‘state your name and business’.

“Di-Stri to base. I have the target,” he replied easily. Jane almost jumped in shock. She thought it would have taken much more than that. He continued to grunt affirmatives into the speaker, all the while keeping eye contact with Jane. She had never seen him look so conflicted.

“Yeah, I’ll get her there. Expect us in a day or two. They’ll be on our trail once they find out. We have to cover our tracks.”

“Affirmative. Excellent work, Dirk.”

“I try. Oh, one more thing, Rose.”

“Yes?”

“Code 612, she found us.”

With that, he hung up. Jane watched as he took his phone and chucked it towards the trees. It hit a sturdy trunk and cracked in two. He turned back to Jane without even watching his phone’s demise.

“I suggest you pack a small bag. Nothing too suspicious.”

“I hardly think they would let me keep personal belongings if they plan to torture me,” Jane scoffed.

“They’re not going to, because we’re not taking you there.”

“Wha-”

“Jane. We may have met months ago, but you’re probably my best friend. You are the most realistic thinker I know, and hell, you _still_ manage to make me smile.  You know how fucked up the Rebellion is, but you also know that the Empire is ten more shades of fucked up.  And I know I’ve said it before, but this rebellion- it’s complete bullshit! They lure people in with this false sense of security that all are welcome, and then attack anybody who has done wrong. Even if they did it _sweeps_ ago. If I went back, begging on my knees for forgiveness they’d denote me solely for stalling two minutes before going out the door to kidnap you,” he ranted.  “But you would still go in there, be tortured for information, and probably do it with that big beautiful smile on your face because you knew I was still with my god damn family.” He cracked Jane a small grin. “Trust me, you’re definitely worth it.”

Jane was overwhelmed. She didn’t know what to say. Luckily, she didn’t have to say much before Dirk began to speak again.

“I have a proposition for you.”

“...Yes, Mister Strider?”

Jane grinned. He smirked back.

“Come away with me.”

He offered his hand to her. She took it without hesitation. “Gladly.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Any comments, questions, or concerns? Message me at laurelie-g.tumblr.com or leave a comment below!


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